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BACKGROUND
The lack of a culturally responsive school for the Badjao tribe has hindered cultural and community progression and development, and has caused slowly disappearance of intergenerational ties within community and departure from their indigenous culture.
Listening and collaborating with the community and its identity are the root and essence of the empowerment of the community. This cultural responsiveness is the core of the proposed Primary School for the Rainbow Community along the existing community of the Badjao in Matina Aplaya.
The proposal will become the center and the heart of the community, with the community itself as its fortification and ground. The cultivation of traditional teaching and the structure of the media of the indigenous knowledge, svstem, and practices (IKSP) are the integral components of the proposal. These guide the children from their young age to ready them as they get through the stages of their lives.
The proposed project will become the catalyst for the educational development, their self-determination and cultural integrity, and ultimately, the entire development of their community, their culture, and the society.
T H E C O M M U N I T Y
Rainbow Community of Matina Aplaya
T H E D R E A M
CROSS SECTION OF THE SCHOOL
The view of the catwalk along mangrove belt. During daytime, as the pupils ready to their morning classes, they have visual access to the mangrove and the sea - their lifestyle - at their south. Their classrooms out of communal conception - circulated with the tribe's art - are at the north.
The sides of the classroom buildings are made flexible for periodical mural paintings for the encouragement of creativity and for a touch of the specially tailored children's art creations to make up the entirety of the customized learning space. They have direct view and experience of the sea, their art, the whole environment and their culture.
COLLABORATION: Painted drift woods are reused for the wall art and mark as a manifestation of the collaboration of the outside communities and the tribe. The woodwork of the architecture by the tribe are fully exposed, thus showing its lightweightness and intricacy. The rainbow branding is economicaly implemented, as well.
The people write on the very same wall as they leave marks of the history of collaboration as one community. (View along the entrance / collaboration open bridge)
The courtyard and the intimacy of space it provides help in imposing space for gathering, collaboration, and small scale activities and events.
The community, visitors, and learners are exposed to the circulated art of the tribe - Okir - imposed with the rainbow branding of the community, and the lightweightness and adaptability of the architecture of and by the community. (View of the courtyard)
MATWEAVE-PATTERNED DESIGN: The collaboration and the construction of the school are not limited to the minds and the hands of men. The women and the elders can take part of the design and the identity of the classrooms with the application of the dreamweaver's mat-weaved patterns to the wall panels running through the hallways.
This parts the foundation of the physical representation of the art of the community, and the establishment of the rainbow community. Patterns are painted on bamboo cuts.
(Left to Right: Hallway: Connection to Workshop Buildings: Kindergarten Classroom; recycled plastic bottles as flower pots along the hallway to introduce responsibility to the children.)
LEVEL OF TRANSITIONS
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An educational movie is projected on the exterior wall. The learner's emotional and practical connection to the environment and the architecture of the school are established. The intimate space created by the void between two buildings allows its utilization for video presentations and mini lectures. Every space are recognized and utilized for educational and communal use.
The space holds the literature banks of the tribe for the preservation of stories to pass on to the next generation, not only through the word of mouth but through established written literature. The reading area is designed for squatting. The space can also be the setting for more private discussions of the officers.
The wall panels are made of angled bamboo cuts to retain privacy without being secluded from the environment. The bamboo cuts are angled so that the space cannout be seen from the outside, but the environment is accessible from the inside. The voids also create dapple lighting which add different intricate patterns brought by daylight to the space. (View of and to the literature bank/library)
Entrance to activity area adourned with Panji and Okir
The workshop building consists of the prayer area (the community practice syncretism), mat weaving area, and wood working area.
The exterior of the workshop building adourned with Panji and Okir Patterns, and bamboo and Amakan materials.
The activity area is flexible for different activities held by the community.
Thank You
